Paper Plate Crafts

When I found some old paper plates in the kitchen one night, I immediately thought of the lion’s face that a three-year-old boy and I made some weeks earlier. We used construction paper before and I thought paper plates would make a better lion’s face. To turn it into a mask by cutting out the eyes was one of the older kids’ idea.

The kids painted the inner part of the paper plate yellow and the outer part orange. We made the nose and whiskers out of construction paper. We cut out the eyes and attached strings. Once their mask was done, the kids couldn’t wait to put it on and let out a wild growl!

Another thing that the kids enjoyed making out of paper plates were these fish tanks.

We made the water background by tracing the paper plate on a blue construction paper then cutting it out. Using construction paper in different colours we made sand, sea creatures and plants then glued them on the fish tank’s “water”. We cut out the inner part of the paper plate then covered the hole with plastic. Some kids glued the paper plate to the water background while some preferred using a stapler.

Whenever I do crafts with kids I usually make templates, normally out of a cereal box or a milk carton, for the older kids as they prefer doing things with as little help as possible. For example, the older kids in our class made their fish by tracing templates on a construction paper then cutting them out. Watch them beam with pride whenever they make something on their own. It’s priceless.